The Windy City.  Second City.  Chi-town.  The Third Coast.  There are a lot of nicknames for Chicago but I always think of it as my kind of town.  I’m biased.  Chicago is one of two hometowns I claim as I lived there for most of the first ten years of my life.  I travel there often to see family and it is, hands down, one of my favorites.  There’s a pulse to the city that I can feel when I land at Midway or O’Hare.   Why is Chicago great?  The people?  The cultural diversity?

That can be a loaded question.  Picking a travel destination is a personal preference.  If you are going on a pre-planned tour-driven vacation, planning is not going to be at the top of the list because all the hard work is already done.  But what about trips where you have to put extra efforts into the planning?  I’m here to help as I’ve learned a few things over the years that help me and can help you with planning your next vacation. This is my 10-step list of how I plan a

Whoever said, “You can’t buy happiness, but you can go to Vegas and that’s kind of the same thing,” knew a thing or two.  People’s thoughts and opinions on Las Vegas swing like a wild pendulum.  For me, Vegas is a chameleon.  It can change into anything you want it to be depending on your mood. My trips have always left me feeling a tiger or two short of a Hangover  good time.  And that’s okay.  There was a time in my life when the wild side of Sin City would have appealed to

Don’t know where you are going?  You may want to look at an updated map of the Las Vegas Strip so that you can get your bearings.  Easiest way to break up the The Strip is in North/West sections with Flamingo Avenue being the dividing line.  There are pros and cons of every area on The Strip.  The southern end is closer to the airport and has access along the western side of the street to the MGM trams to make travel between the casinos easier.  The south end of The Strip als